Derail.



S. W. HAYES.

DERAIL.

APPLICATION FILED D30. so, 1908.

1,007, 102. Patented 001;. 31, 1911.

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STANLEY W. HAYES, 0F GENEVA, NEW YORK.

DERAIL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1911.

Application filed December 30, 1908. Serial No. 470,093.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it lmown that I, STANLEY IV. HAYES, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Geneva, in the county of Ontario and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Derails, of which the following is a full, true, and concise specification.

This invention is an improvement in derails, and particularly in that class of derails in which the movable derailing memher is operated by pipe line connections, to be shifted thereby from a position at one side of the track rail to a position upon it or vice versa.

The invention consists in a relative arrangement of the bearings for said movable derailing member adapting it to be assembled and smoothly fitted to' its base or supporting structure with the least amount of labor, and also providing a certain facility of movement for the said member which promotes the ease with which it can be operated.

The invention provides for the construction and use of an extra long derailing member, that is, in the direction of the track rails, without unduly extending its dimension cross wise of track or producing tendencies in it to stick or cramp in the parts which support or guide it.

The principle and certain further advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of one of its pre ferred embodiments, and the distinguishing features thereof are pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are side elevations of a derail embodying my invention, in different positions; and Fig. 3 is a top plan of Fig. 1, with portions broken away and shown in section.

The derail comprises a base structure which may obviously be constructed in a variety of different forms to suit the particular style of derailing member employed with it, and in the form taken for illustration, it consists of a one-piece casting or frame with side flanges 1 adapted to be spiked to the tops of two adjacent ties, and parallel side walls 2 and 3, which rise from the spiked flanges and are united at their tops by a ribbed cross-brace 4. The side walls are further united at their forward extremities by the elevated extension 5 which includes the vertical and lateral thrust-bearings for a depending shoulder on the derail ing member. A rearwardly inclined rooflike cross-member 6 joins the side walls at the extreme rear of the casting, serving a special purpose which will be later explained. The derailing member comprises a body portion 7 and a head or derail-block 8, which is the member adapted to be moved onto and off the rail 9. The body portion 7 is contained within the space or chamber between the side walls, and is supported thereon by suitable front and rear slide-way bearings, preferably of the stud-and-groove variety, the studs being as a matter of preference formed on the derailing member and the grooves on the side walls. In the form herein illustrated the grooves are so arranged as to impart a vertical component to the movement of the derailing member from its active position, shown in Fig. 1, to its inactive position, shown in Fig. 2, where it is depressed at the side of the rail.

The front bearings are'disposed on opposite sides of the forward portion of the body of the derailing member near to the derailblock, and in accordance with this invention the said bearings or specifically the grooves 10 thereof, are offset relatively to the rear bearings or the grooves 12 thereof. This offset relation is obtained by spacing the side walls 2 at a slightly greater distance apart than the side walls 3 and giving to the body of the movable derailing member a corresponding shape so that the studs 13 which engage the rear grooves 12 may be assembled into the latter without requiring them to be first passed through the length of the forward grooves 10. A snug though free-moving fit is necessary for the movable derailing member in its base, and it has been customary on this account to cast the two parts in the first instance to as close a fit as possible, and then bring them to final fitting dimensions by carefully machining them or by some equivalent method. In prior constructions wherein the only entrance to the rear groove bearings is through the front grooves, a considerable amount of such machining is necessary, due to roughness and irregularities of the castings from warping, etc., in order for the rear studs to reach their own grooves, and it frequently occurs that the studs are so materially reduced in size in order to accommodate the forward grooves, that they form only an imperfect fit in their own grooves, and hence do not properly guide the derailing member in its movement. By arranging the entrance to the rear groove in an offset relation to the other, as above explained, each stud requires but a minimum of machining or fitting, since it has only to fit its own particu lar groove, and the resulting engagement of studs with grooves is accordingly more uniform than would otherwise be the case, where all the bearings are of the stud-andgroove type. The fitting referred to pertains particularly to the vertical engaging faces of the bearings, which constitute the lateral boundaries of the path of the derailing member, and it will be apparent from what has been said that the amount of offset necessarv for accomplishing the result described is not required to be more than just enough to accommodate ordinary irregularities in the castings. The described disposition of the front and rear bearings, how ever, is productive of certain practical advanta not directly accruing from the superiority of the fitting obtained thereby, which advantages recommend that the rear stud and groove bearings shall be brought as closely together as possible, and itis preferred to make the rear end of the derailing member as a relatively narrow eX- tension of the said member, allowing only suflicient space laterally to accommodate the attachment lugs 14: and their connections (not shown) by which the derail is operated. The rear bearings as thus reduced and the similarly reduced guide-way or channel formed between the opposite side walls 3, 3 constitute practically a single guiding bearing or support. The guideway or channel is preferably located along the center line of movement of the derailing member and it is desirable that the rear portion of the derailing member shall fit the base as snugly as may be, especially in the horizontal direction. By reason of the comparative shortness of the front and rear guideways, a close and uniform engagement is readily produced between these parts.

It will be observed that the provision of a relatively narrow rear guiding support for the derailing member coincident with, or parallel to, the center line of its movement, maintains a substantial parallelism of the derail block with the rail, as it moves toward and from the latter, and also of the forward or main bearings of the said member so that there is no tendency for them to cramp or bind. The tendency of the derailing member to cramp will naturally and most often take place as a turning movement upon one or the other of the forward bearings 11 acting as a pivot. When such turning movement tends to take place in a righthanded direction on the right hand hearing as the pivot, the opposite rear bearing 13 and its guideway serves to resist and rection cross-wise of the track.

prevent it, which function is effectively accomplished by that guideway because of its location nearer to the vertical plane of the right hand bearing than the distance between the forward bearings, and likewise, the opposite turning movement on the other forward hearing as a pivot will be similarly resisted by the other rear bearing and its guideway, thus maintaining a positive direction of motion of the derailing member and insuring its reliable operation, as will be readily understood. This advantage, it will be noted, obtains regardless of the distance by which the said forward bearings are separated and of the particular style of said bearings, that is, whether they are stud and groove bearings or some other kind, and therefore permits the forward end of the body portion 7 to be made of any width conformable to the length of derail-block itis designed to carry, without increasing the dimensions of the device as a whole in a di The extension of the distance separating the main or forward bearings increases the stability of the derail block upon the rail and under the shocks and severe strains to which it is subjected when in actual operation.

The rear cross-member 6 which unites the rear extremities of the side walls 3, is extended downwardly so as to increase its rigidity and usefulness, and is also disposed at an inclination, as indicated, in order to avoid obstructing the movement of the derailing member when filled or covered with snow. The bearing grooves 12 are cut away beneath the cross member and the snow lodging in them and between the side walls 3, is pushed rearwardly by the end of the member and deflected downwardly by the angle of the cross-member, so that the device is thus self-cleaning, the forward part being protected and covered by the derailing member itself.

I claim the following:

1. A derail comprising a base provided with front and rear stud and groove bearings adapted for supporting and guiding the derailing member toward and from the rail, in combination with the said derailing member having front and rear stud and groove bearings respectively adapted for engagement with the said front and rear bearings in the base, the said rear groove bearings having their entrances offset with respectto the grooves of said front bearings.

2. A derail comprising a base and a derailing member having one end supported thereon by two opposite slideway bearings constituting lateral boundaries to the path of said member toward and from the rail and its other end by two similar bearings separated from each other by a less distance than said first named bearings.

3. A derail comprising a supporting structure and a derailing member movable thereon upon two separated and substantially opposite bearings, in combination with a fixed guideway for said member disposed within the vertical planes of said first named bearings, substantially parallel with the center-line of the movement of said member toward or from the rail.

4. A derail comprising a base and a derailing member movable thereon upon two forward guiding means, in combination with a rearward extension of said derailing member and means engaging said extension within the vertical planes of said forward guiding means, for guiding the same in longitudinal direction toward or from the rail.

5. A derail comprising a base and a derailing member supported thereon upon two separated bearings providing a vertical component in its movement toward or from the rail, in combination with a rearward extension of said derailing member and guiding means engaging said extension within the vertical planes of said forward bearings to prevent lateral turning of said derailing member.

6. A derail comprising a bast and a derailing member movable thereon upon two separated stud and groove bearings, in combination with a guiding support for said member engaging the same within the vertical planes of said groove bearings and parallel with the line of movement of said member toward or from the rail.

7. A derail comprising a derailing member movable on separated stud and groove bearings disposed adjacent to the derail block thereof, and provided with a rearward and relatively narrow central extension, in combination with means engaging said extension and holding the same from lateral movement during the movement 01 the derailing member toward or from the rail.

8. A derail comprising a base having upthe wider portion of said base to move therer on toward and from the rail, and provided withan extension adapted to be guided by gngagement with the narrow portion of said ase.

10. A derail comprising a supporting structure and a derailing member guided thereon by means of two widely separated and substantially opposite bearings and provided with attachment means for a pipeline element to move the same toward or from the rail, in combination with means for preventing cramping of the derailing member in such movement upon either of its said bearings as a pivot, said means consisting, in respect of right hand turning movement upon the right hand bearing as the pivot, of a guideway opposing such movement, disposed nearer to the vertical plane of the right hand bearing than the distance between the said bearings, and in respect of left hand turning movement upon the left hand bearing as the pivot, consisting of a corresponding guideway opposing such movement, disposed nearer to the vertical plane of the left hand bearing than the distance between bearings.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to the specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

STANLEY W. HAYES.

Witnesses:

H. F. NEsTER, R. M. BRADEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, .D. C. 

